DeoaaOMr K, WK. 1 



JOURNAL OF EORTICULTURB ARD COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



407 



SOWING AND AFTER-MANAGEMENT 



OF PELARGONIUM, VERBENA, AND OTHER CHOICE SEEDS- 



HE season is fast approiicli- 

 ing when the lovers of new 

 plants watch for tlie appear- 

 ance of the germ of the seed 

 they have fostered with so 

 much care during the sea- 

 son of growtji. Only tliose who, lilce myself, are. enthu- 

 siasts can know how much pleasure it gives — with wliat 

 joy it lills us — to see our future pets just peeping tlirough 

 the soil, and how eagerly we watch them almost every 

 hour to note what progress tliey have made since we last 

 looked upon them. A short description of the way in wliich 

 I treat the seeds of the above plants may, therefore, he 

 acceptable to many readers of The Journal of Hop.ticui- 

 ri'EE — nay, I am sure that it will ; for there are many 

 amateurs who make their garden their only recreation, and 

 who, having notliing else to engross their minds with, are 

 constantly on the watch for the appearance of their pets. 

 They know that after a certain nimiber of days they may 

 hope for the appearance of their seedlings, and as the time 

 for tliis di'aws neai'er and nearer the visits become more 

 frequent, till at last some little hillocks are seen raised up 

 above the surface of the soU ; then come (he little yellow 

 leaves, and soon afterwards the yoimg plants are faMy 

 above the soU. The anxious watcher tries to force them 

 on witli all speed, so that he may liasten the time when he 

 fondly hopes to realise the particular object he has in view. 

 Often, however, it happens that the briglit hopes he has 

 formed respecting the future of his pets are dashed to the 

 ground, and the airy castles are rent asunder from some 

 unknown cause. 



There ai'e many evils wliich beset the path of the amateur, 

 which can only be overcome by a long course of experi- 

 ments, constant practice, and ceaseless watchfulness. Let 

 us, then, consider what those evils are. 



1st, The clumsy way in which tlie soil has been prepared. 

 ■2nd, There may not have been sufficient drainage put 

 at the bottom of the seed-pans ; or if tliere was enough 

 put in, it may have been thrown in carelessly — that is, 

 some large pieces may have been tlu-own indiscriminately 

 into the pan, and the soil placed on these before anji,hing 

 had been put on the large crocks to prevent the soil ti'ick- 

 ling down amongst tbem. 



;ird, iVfter sowii'.g, the pot may have been so thoroughly 

 saturated with water thai the soil could not again become 

 suitable for tlie vegetation of the seeds : or if they have 

 retained sufiicient strength to push tlu'ough the soil, the 

 latter may have become so sodden and impalatable to the 

 young and tender roots that these perish, the leaves droop, 

 and the bright hope flies. 

 No. W7.— Vol, IX., New Sej«es 



4th, Tlie seed may have been placed at a great depth 

 below the surface of the soil, or it may have laeen sown 

 too sliallow. Either extreme \^'ill often prove fatal to the 

 vegetation of many seeds. 



oth. The situation in which the seed-pans were placed 

 may no!, have been suitable. Tliey may have been too far 

 away from the glass, or the temperature may have been 

 too high or too low. It is better to err on the side of the 

 latter, for seeds \vi\\ sometimes remain dormant in a tem- 

 peratirre that is not suiSciently wann to cause them t<v 

 vegetate, and no harm will result pro%'iding the soil is not 

 in a wet state. On the other hand, if dicy are placed in 

 a temperature too wai7n for them they are forced into a 

 prematm-e growth, and become di-awn up so wcaldy that 

 the first slight wind that blows upon them, or if the atmo- 

 sphere is chai-ged with too much moisture, away they go. 



Cth, AH the foregoing e-vols may have been avoided: 

 proper core may have been taken in preparing the soil, and 

 the pots and pans ; the latter may have been placed, aftor 

 the seeds were so\ra, in a proper tempcratin-e ; everyt'iin"- 

 may have been done to ensure success : the seedUn^s raav 

 have come up well and be looldng fresh and vigorous, and 

 the first part of the battle may have been fought, and yet 

 want of success may be the result. Tliis may arise from 

 want of time, or an idea that the seedlings had better 

 stand in the seed-pans ;mtil tliey have made a second pair 

 of leaves and are large euougii to handle. This is often 

 the rock on which the raiser of seedlings strikes ; it is often; 

 at tliis stage that liis hopes are shattered. 



I have in some measui-e digressed fi-om mj .subject, and 

 have taken up raucli space in explaining the causes and 

 probabilities of failures before entering more fully on an 

 explanation of tlie system wliich I adopt, thinldng tliat my 

 mode of treatment may thus be made more clear, and be 

 the more easily understood by that class of the readers of 

 the Journal for wliom these romai-ks are more especially 

 intended. 



PEi.AnooNiU3is.— For these I use a mixture of good loam, 

 peat, leaf mould, and silver sand in equal portions, taking 

 care to use soil tliat is in a nice sweet state ; bv tliis I 

 mean neither too wet nor too dry. The soil is well incor- 

 porated together, and then rubbed tlirough a riddle with 

 about a half-inch mesh. After tiie whole lias been nibbed 

 through tliis riddle, another with a still smaller mesh is 

 used ; but tlie soil is not rubbed through this as before, 

 but only sifted. The siftings are carefully put by to be 

 used on the top of the di-ainage : this prevents the. soil 

 from passing dovm amongst the di-ainago. 



After the soil has been prepared, tiie next matter to be 

 attended to is the cutting or seed-pans : these must be 

 tiioroughly clean and dry, and should be about 6 or 8 indies 

 in deptli. About .'J inches of large crocks should be placed 

 carefully in the bottom of the pans, aiid in doing this care 

 must be taken to put them in so that there may be a varant 

 space between every piece of crock : at the same time thev 

 must be so placed that, on tapping the pan on the bench, 

 alter it has beeii fiUed with soil, tlicv will not shake out of ' 

 their pro J- er place ; for when tiiis is" the case it wiU often 

 upset the Whole arrangement of tlie (b-air,age, ctlij.iin™ 

 ; No. 890.— Vol. XXXIV., Old SERJEe. 



